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All articles

- Special Episode: Mary Roach & Replaceable You: 2025 Sep 16

- Episode 187 Hypothermia Part 2: How it helps: 2025 Sep 9

- Episode 186 Hypothermia Part 1: How it hurts: 2025 Sep 2

- Special Episode: Lina Zeldovich & The Living Medicine: 2025 Aug 28

- Episode 185 The Great Smog of London: “Thick, drab, yellow, disgusting”: 2025 Aug 22

- Episode 184 The Gallbladder: Humor us: 2025 Aug 12

- Special Episode: Carl Zimmer & Airborne: 2025 Aug 12

- Episode 183 SSRIs Part 2: Action: 2025 Jul 30

- Episode 182 SSRIs Part 1: Origin: 2025 Jul 30

- Special Episode: Wendy Chin-Tanner & King of the Armadillos: 2025 Jul 15

SEP 16, 2025, 3:00 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Special Episode: Mary Roach & Replaceable You

When your car breaks down or your fridge goes on the fritz, you can order a replacement part and get things back up and running in no time. The same cannot always be said for another intricate machine: the human body. For centuries, scientists have grappled with making or transplanting suitable replacements for nearly every body part, from hearts to hair and from legs to lungs. We’ve come quite a long way in that quest, so that at times, it feels as though we’re living in a sci-fi novel, where skin cells are printed and we can grow a customized heart. Yet we still have further to go, thanks to our magnificent immune system, who proves to be quite a worthy opponent. Here to tell you all about the weird and wonderful world of regenerative medicine is the one and only Mary Roach, who joins us this week to chat about her latest book Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy. As with any Mary Roach production, this is the perfect combination of informative, fascinating, and fun. Tune in today!

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission which helps us keep things running. Thanks!

This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

SEP 9, 2025, 3:00 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Episode 187 Hypothermia Part 2: How it helps

Last week, we took you through all the ways that cold can harm us and the harrowing history of humans perishing at its icy hands. Ending the story there would be skipping over the parts where cold gets to play the hero, rather than the villain. In the second installment of this frosty miniseries, we explore the situations in which we might use cold to protect us and how it actually works. We also delve into the surprisingly long (and unsurprisingly grim) history of therapeutic hypothermia, a journey that wouldn’t be complete without a debate over sea cloaks, a reconsideration of the plot of Titanic, and a brief jaunt into cryonics.

History

- Jaekl, Phil. Out Cold: A Chilling Descent Into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia. PublicAffairs, 2021.

- Alzaga, Ana G., Gloria A. Salazar, and Joseph Varon. “Breaking the thermal barrier: Dr. Temple Fay.” Resuscitation 69.3 (2006): 359-364.

- Alzaga, Ana G., Mario Cerdan, and Joseph Varon. “Therapeutic hypothermia.” Resuscitation 70.3 (2006): 369-380.

- Berger, Robert L. “Nazi science—the Dachau hypothermia experiments.” New England journal of medicine 322.20 (1990): 1435-1440.

- Carlson, Robert, et al. “Fifty-three years of follow-up of an infant with neonatal encephalopathy treated with therapeutic hypothermia.” Pediatric Research 89.5 (2021): 1117-1118.

- Chalak, Lina. “Historical perspectives for therapeutic hypothermia in the newborn: a life worth saving.” Pediatric Research 89.5 (2021): 1057-1058.

- Currie, James. “X. An account of the remarkable effects of a shipwreck on the mariners; with experiments and observations on the influence of immersion in fresh and salt water, hot and cold, on the powers of the living body.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 82 (1792): 199-224.

- Gunn, Alistair J., et al. “Therapeutic hypothermia translates from ancient history in to practice.” Pediatric research 81.1 (2017): 202-209.

- Kochanek, Patrick M., Tomas Drabek, and Samuel A. Tisherman. “Therapeutic hypothermia: the Safar vision.” Journal of neurotrauma 26.3 (2009): 417-420.

- Remba, Salomon Jasqui, et al. “Dominique-Jean Larrey: the effects of therapeutic hypothermia and the first ambulance.” Resuscitation 81.3 (2010): 268-271.

- Sessler, Daniel I. “Thermoregulatory defense mechanisms.” Critical care medicine 37.7 (2009): S203-S210.

- Forrester, John M. “The origins and fate of James Currie’s cold water treatment for fever.” Medical history 44.1 (2000): 57-74.

- Clint, Edward, and Daniel MT Fessler. “Insurmountable heat: the evolution and persistence of defensive hyperthermia.” The Quarterly review of biology 91.1 (2016): 25-46.

Biology

- Varon, J. and Acosta, P., 2008. Therapeutic hypothermia. Chest, 133(5), pp.1267-1274.

- Perman, S.M., Goyal, M., Neumar, R.W., Topjian, A.A. and Gaieski, D.F., 2014. Clinical applications of targeted temperature management. Chest, 145(2), pp.386-393.

- Faix, R.G., Laptook, A.R., Shankaran, S., Eggleston, B., Chowdhury, D., Heyne, R.J., Das, A., Pedroza, C., Tyson, J.E., Wusthoff, C. and Bonifacio, S.L., 2025. Whole-body hypothermia for neonatal encephalopathy in preterm infants 33 to 35 weeks’ gestation: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA pediatrics, 179(4), pp.396-406.

- Abate, B.B., Bimerew, M., Gebremichael, B., Mengesha Kassie, A., Kassaw, M., Gebremeskel, T. and Bayih, W.A., 2021. Effects of therapeutic hypothermia on death among asphyxiated neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials. PloS one, 16(2), p.e0247229.

- Dankiewicz, J., Cronberg, T., Lilja, G., Jakobsen, J.C., Levin, H., Ullén, S., Rylander, C., Wise, M.P., Oddo, M., Cariou, A. and Bělohlávek, J., 2021. Hypothermia versus normothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(24), pp.2283-2294.

- Bernard, S.A., Gray, T.W., Buist, M.D., Jones, B.M., Silvester, W., Gutteridge, G. and Smith, K., 2002. Treatment of comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with induced hypothermia. New England journal of medicine, 346(8), pp.557-563.

- Lascarrou, J.B., Merdji, H., Le Gouge, A., Colin, G., Grillet, G., Girardie, P., Coupez, E., Dequin, P.F., Cariou, A., Boulain, T. and Brule, N., 2019. Targeted temperature management for cardiac arrest with nonshockable rhythm. New England Journal of Medicine, 381(24), pp.2327-2337.

- Nielsen, N., Wetterslev, J., Cronberg, T., Erlinge, D., Gasche, Y., Hassager, C., Horn, J., Hovdenes, J., Kjaergaard, J., Kuiper, M. and Pellis, T., 2013. Targeted temperature management at 33 C versus 36 C after cardiac arrest. New England journal of medicine, 369(23), pp.2197-2206.

- Nielsen, N., Friberg, H., Gluud, C., Herlitz, J. and Wetterslev, J., 2011. Hypothermia after cardiac arrest should be further evaluated—a systematic review of randomised trials with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis. International journal of cardiology, 151(3), pp.333-341.

- Perman, S.M., Elmer, J., Maciel, C.B., Uzendu, A., May, T., Mumma, B.E., Bartos, J.A., Rodriguez, A.J., Kurz, M.C., Panchal, A.R. and Rittenberger, J.C., 2024. 2023 American Heart Association focused update on adult advanced cardiovascular life support: an update to the American Heart Association guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care. Circulation, 149(5), pp.e254-e273.

- Sessler, D.I., Pei, L., Li, K., Cui, S., Chan, M.T., Huang, Y., Wu, J., He, X., Bajracharya, G.R., Rivas, E. and Lam, C.K., 2022. Aggressive intraoperative warming versus routine thermal management during non-cardiac surgery (PROTECT): a multicentre, parallel group, superiority trial. The Lancet, 399(10337), pp.1799-1808.

- Kwiecien, S.Y. and McHugh, M.P., 2021. The cold truth: the role of cryotherapy in the treatment of injury and recovery from exercise. European journal of applied physiology, 121(8), pp.2125-2142.

- Greenberg, S.M., Ziai, W.C., Cordonnier, C., Dowlatshahi, D., Francis, B., Goldstein, J.N., Hemphill III, J.C., Johnson, R., Keigher, K.M., Mack, W.J. and Mocco, J., 2022. 2022 guideline for the management of patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: a guideline from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Stroke, 53(7), pp.e282-e361.

- Hoh, B.L., Ko, N.U., Amin-Hanjani, S., Chou, S.H.Y., Cruz-Flores, S., Dangayach, N.S., Derdeyn, C.P., Du, R., Hänggi, D., Hetts, S.W. and Ifejika, N.L., 2023. 2023 guideline for the management of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a guideline from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Stroke, 54(7), pp.e314-e370.

- Powers, W.J., Rabinstein, A.A., Ackerson, T., Adeoye, O.M., Bambakidis, N.C., Becker, K., Biller, J., Brown, M., Demaerschalk, B.M., Hoh, B. and Jauch, E.C., 2019. Guidelines for the early management of patients with acute ischemic stroke: 2019 update to the 2018 guidelines for the early management of acute ischemic stroke: a guideline for healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Stroke.

- Gocoł, R., Hudziak, D., Bis, J., Mendrala, K., Morkisz, Ł., Podsiadło, P., Kosiński, S., Piątek, J. and Darocha, T., 2021. The role of deep hypothermia in cardiac surgery. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(13), p.7061.

- Abbasciano, R.G., Koulouroudias, M., Chad, T., Mohamed, W., Leeman, I., Pellowe, C., Kunst, G., Klein, A. and Murphy, G.J., 2022. Role of hypothermia in adult cardiac surgery patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia, 36(7), pp.1883-1890.

- Rong, L.Q. and Gaudino, M., 2022. Hypothermia, Meta-Analyses and Reporting Bias: Nothing New Under the Sun. Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia, 36(7), pp.1891-1892.

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This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

SEP 2, 2025, 3:00 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Episode 186 Hypothermia Part 1: How it hurts

For all our wondrous adaptations as a species – our big brains, our capacity for language, our opposable thumbs – we humans are not well-equipped to deal with the cold. Take us out of our insulated dwellings, take away our winter clothes, and things can get dicey fast. From frostbite to hypothermia, the cold can settle into our bones, leading us down a path where injury or death are possible outcomes. In this episode, we explore that path: how our meager cold-survival adaptations are vastly outshone by other animal species, the long and grim history of hypothermia in war, and what exactly is happening inside your body when your temperature drops. Tune in to this unexpectedly strange grab-bag of an episode.

History

- Jaekl, Phil. Out Cold: A Chilling Descent Into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia. PublicAffairs, 2021.

- Auteri, Giorgia G. “A conceptual framework to integrate cold-survival strategies: Torpor, resistance and seasonal migration.” Biology Letters 18.5 (2022): 20220050.

- Blix, Arnoldus Schytte. “Adaptations to polar life in mammals and birds.” Journal of Experimental Biology 219.8 (2016): 1093-1105.

- Davis, P. R., and M. Byers. “Accidental hypothermia.” BMJ Military Health 151.4 (2005): 223-233.

- Gilbert, Mads, et al. “Resuscitation from accidental hypothermia of 13· 7 C with circulatory arrest.” The Lancet 355.9201 (2000): 375-376.

- Guly, Henry. “History of accidental hypothermia.” Resuscitation 82.1 (2011): 122-125.

- Lankford, Harvey V. “Dull brains and frozen feet: a historical essay on cold.” Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 27.4 (2016): 526-532.

- Larson, Don J., et al. “Wood frog adaptations to overwintering in Alaska: new limits to freezing tolerance.” Journal of Experimental Biology 217.12 (2014): 2193-2200.

- Mylopotamitaki, Dorothea, et al. “Homo sapiens reached the higher latitudes of Europe by 45,000 years ago.” Nature 626.7998 (2024): 341-346.

- O’Sullivan, S. T., M. O’Shaughnessy, and T. P. F. O’Connor. “Baron Larrey and cold injury during the campaigns of Napoleon.” Annals of plastic surgery 34.4 (1995): 446-449.

- Paton, Bruce C. “Cold, casualties, and conquests: the effects of cold on warfare.” Medical aspects of harsh environments 1 (2001): 313-349.

- Pavlov, Pavel, John Inge Svendsen, and Svein Indrelid. “Human presence in the European Arctic nearly 40,000 years ago.” Nature 413.6851 (2001): 64-67.

- Schieber, Alexandria M. Palaferri, and Janelle S. Ayres. “Thermoregulation as a disease tolerance defense strategy.” Pathogens and disease 74.9 (2016): ftw106.

- Storey, Kenneth B., and Janet M. Storey. “Natural freeze tolerance in ectothermic vertebrates.” Annual review of physiology 54.1 (1992): 619-637.

- Voituron, Yann, et al. “To freeze or not to freeze? An evolutionary perspective on the cold-hardiness strategies of overwintering ectotherms.” The American Naturalist 160.2 (2002): 255-270.

Biology

- Kuht, J. and Farmery, A.D., 2021. Body temperature and its regulation. Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, 22(10), pp.657-662.

- Turk, E.E., 2010. Hypothermia. Forensic science, medicine, and pathology, 6(2), pp.106-115.

- Danzl, D.F. and Pozos, R.S., 1994. Accidental hypothermia. New England Journal of Medicine, 331(26), pp.1756-1760.

- Paal, P., Pasquier, M., Darocha, T., Lechner, R., Kosinski, S., Wallner, B., Zafren, K. and Brugger, H., 2022. Accidental hypothermia: 2021 update. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(1), p.501.

- McCullough, L. and Arora, S., 2004. Diagnosis and treatment of hypothermia. American family physician, 70(12), pp.2325-2332.

- Sheridan, R.L., Goverman, J.M. and Walker, T.G., 2022. Diagnosis and treatment of frostbite. New England Journal of Medicine, 386(23), pp.2213-2220.

- Regli, I.B., Oberhammer, R., Zafren, K., Brugger, H. and Strapazzon, G., 2023. Frostbite treatment: a systematic review with meta-analyses. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 31(1), p.96.

- Persitz, J., Essa, A., Ner, E.B., Assaraf, E. and Avisar, E., 2022. Frostbite of the extremities–recognition, evaluation and treatment. Injury, 53(10), pp.3088-3093.

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This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

AUG 28, 2025, 9:43 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Special Episode: Lina Zeldovich & The Living Medicine

The development of antibiotics was one of the greatest turning points in the history of medicine. Bacterial infections that were once death sentences were cured within a matter of days after administration of these lifesaving compounds. But the honeymoon didn’t last long, as resistant bacterial strains emerged and spread. Now, antimicrobial resistance poses one of the greatest threats to global health; frankly, we can’t invent new antibiotics faster than resistance develops. Fortunately, there may be a solution, one that has existed even before antibiotics came on the scene: phage therapy, the use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections. In The Living Medicine: How a Lifesaving Cure Was Nearly Lost—and Why It Will Rescue Us When Antibiotics Fail, author Lina Zeldovich takes readers through the incredible and long-forgotten story of phage therapy and the doctors who developed it. Tune in to learn how phage therapy, after almost being relegated to a footnote in the history of medicine, is reemerging as a possible solution to the deadly problem of antimicrobial resistance.

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This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

AUG 22, 2025, 9:10 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Episode 185 The Great Smog of London: “Thick, drab, yellow, disgusting”

Some things just go together: peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, milk and cereal, London and smog. Or at least, that’s the way things used to be until the Great Smog of 1952. (Don’t worry, the first three pairings are safe). If you’ve watched The Crown, you may remember an early episode in which a thick, noxious smog surrounded the entire city of London for days on end. People coughing, hacking, collapsing. Traffic ground to a standstill. Authorities in denial. What was actually going on in December 1952 to lead to such conditions? What was in the smog to make it so toxic? And how did this severe pollution event lead to massive changes in air quality regulations around the world? Tune in to find out all this and more (including what The Crown got wrong).

History

- History

- Dawson, Kate Winkler. Death in the air: The true story of a serial killer, the great London smog, and the strangling of a city. Hachette+ ORM, 2018.

- Berridge, Virginia, and Suzanne Taylor, eds. The big smoke: fifty years after the 1952 london smog. Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2005.

- Davis, Devra L. “A look back at the London smog of 1952 and the half century since.” Environmental health perspectives 110.12 (2002): A734-A735.

- Longhurst, J. W. S., et al. “Progress with air quality management in the 60 years since the UK clean air act, 1956. Lessons, failures, challenges and opportunities.” International journal of sustainable development and planning 11.4 (2016): 491-499.

- ‘London Fogs’ by R.Russell, 1880

Biology

- Biology

- Wilkins, E.T., 1954. Air pollution and the London fog of December, 1952. Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute, 74(1), pp.1-21.

- Battigelli, M.C., 1968. Sulfur dioxide and acute effects of air pollution. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 10(9), pp.500-511.

- Logan, W.P., 1953. Mortality in the London fog incident, 1952. The Lancet, 261(6755) 336-338

- Hunt, A., Abraham, J.L., Judson, B. and Berry, C.L., 2003. Toxicologic and epidemiologic clues from the characterization of the 1952 London smog fine particulate matter in archival autopsy lung tissues. Environmental health perspectives, 111(9), pp.1209-1214.

- Bell, M.L., Davis, D.L. and Fletcher, T., 2008. A retrospective assessment of mortality from the London smog episode of 1952: the role of influenza and pollution. Urban Ecology: An International Perspective on the Interaction Between Humans and Nature, pp.263-268.

- Bell, M.L. and Davis, D.L., 2001. Reassessment of the lethal London fog of 1952: novel indicators of acute and chronic consequences of acute exposure to air pollution. Environmental health perspectives, 109(suppl 3), pp.389-394.

- Whittaker, A., BeruBe, K., Jones, T., Maynard, R. and Richards, R., 2004. Killer smog of London, 50 years on: particle properties and oxidative capacity. Science of the total Environment, 334, pp.435-445.

- Laskin, D., 2006. The great London smog. Weatherwise, 59(6), pp.42-45. [meterological journal but not peer reviewed]

- Bharadwaj, P., Zivin, J.G., Mullins, J.T. and Neidell, M., 2016. Early-life exposure to the great smog of 1952 and the development of asthma. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 194(12), pp.1475-1482.

- Gaffney, J.S., Marley, N.A. and Frederick, J.E., 2009. Formation and effects of smog. Environmental and Ecological Chemistry; Sabljic, A., Ed.; Eolss Publishers Co., Ltd.: Oxford, UK, 2, pp.25-51.

- Gultepe, I., Tardif, R., Michaelides, S.C., Cermak, J., Bott, A., Bendix, J., Müller, M.D., Pagowski, M., Hansen, B., Ellrod, G. and Jacobs, W., 2007. Fog research: A review of past achievements and future perspectives. Pure and applied geophysics, 164, pp.1121-1159.

- Badenhorst, C.J., 2007. Occupational health and safety risks associated with sulphur dioxide. Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 107(5), pp.299-303.

- Wang, G., Zhang, R., Gomez, M.E., Yang, L., Levy Zamora, M., Hu, M., Lin, Y., Peng, J., Guo, S., Meng, J. and Li, J., 2016. Persistent sulfate formation from London Fog to Chinese haze. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(48), pp.13630-13635.

- Orellano, P., Reynoso, J. and Quaranta, N., 2021. Short-term exposure to sulphur dioxide (SO2) and all-cause and respiratory mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment international, 150, p.106434.

- Zhang, D., Liu, J. and Li, B., 2014. Tackling air pollution in China—What do we learn from the great smog of 1950s in London. Sustainability, 6(8), pp.5322-5338.

- Committee on public health, New York Academy of Medicine. 1966. Air pollution and health. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 42(7) pp.588-619

- WHO. June 2024. Health Consequences of air pollution on populations https://www.who.int/news/item/25-06-2024-what-are-health-consequences-of-air-pollution-on-populations

- WHO. Air quality, energy and health. https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/health-impacts/types-of-pollutants

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This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

AUG 12, 2025, 9:12 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Episode 184 The Gallbladder: Humor us

For most of us, there probably hasn’t been a good reason for you to think about your gallbladder. Ever. Much of the time, it sits there, silently storing, concentrating, and, when needed, churning out bile every day. But occasionally, this unassuming organ will announce itself through waves of unceasing, excruciating pain brought on by a blockage of some sort. Why it does this to us, what we do about it, and how we can live a gallbladder-free life are just some of the things we cover in this episode. We’re also taking this opportunity to deep dive into the substance most closely associated with the gallbladder: bile. Bile plays an outsized role in the history of medicine, mostly through its role as one of the four humors in the humoral theory of disease. Are you of a choleric temperament or is your vibe more sanguine? Maybe melancholic or phlegmatic suits you better. Don’t know what the heck we’re talking about? Tune in to find out.

History

- Arikha, Noga. Passions and tempers: A history of the humours. Noga Arikha, 2007.

- Arthure, Humphrey. “A large abdominal calculus.” BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 60.3 (1953): 416-416.

- Barie & Franck 2015 History of medical and surgical management of acute cholecystitis

- Becerra, Pablo, et al. “Giant gallstone: a case report.” International journal of surgery case reports 2.7 (2011): 228-229.

- Lagay, Faith. “The legacy of humoral medicine.” AMA Journal of Ethics 4.7 (2002): 206-208.

- Singh, Yardesh, et al. “A giant gallstone: the largest gallstone removed laparoscopically in the world.” Cureus 12.5 (2020).

Biology

- Housset, C., Chrétien, Y., Debray, D. and Chignard, N., 2016. Functions of the Gallbladder. Compr Physiol, 6(3), pp.1549-77.

- Standring, S. 2021. Gallbladder and Biliary Tree. Gray’s Anatomy E-Book: Gray’s Anatomy E-Book 42nd ed. Elsevier Health Sciences.

- Portincasa, P., Moschetta, A. and Palasciano, G., 2006. Cholesterol gallstone disease. The Lancet, 368(9531), pp.230-239.

- Gallaher, J.R. and Charles, A., 2022. Acute cholecystitis: a review. Jama, 327(10), pp.965-975.

- Roa, J.C., García, P., Kapoor, V.K., Maithel, S.K., Javle, M. and Koshiol, J., 2022. Gallbladder cancer. Nature reviews Disease primers, 8(1), p.69.

- Hegyi, P., Maléth, J., Walters, J.R., Hofmann, A.F. and Keely, S.J., 2018. Guts and gall: bile acids in regulation of intestinal epithelial function in health and disease. Physiological reviews, 98(4), pp.1983-2023.

- Russell, D.W., 2003. The enzymes, regulation, and genetics of bile acid synthesis. Annual review of biochemistry, 72(1), pp.137-174.

- He, Liyun, Jialu Wang, Fan Ping, Na Yang, Jingyue Huang, Yuxiu Li, Lingling Xu, Wei Li, and Huabing Zhang. “Association of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist use with risk of gallbladder and biliary diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.” JAMA internal medicine 182, no. 5 (2022): 513-519.

- McDermott, J., Kao, L.S., Keeley, J.A., Nahmias, J. and de Virgilio, C., 2024. Management of gallstone pancreatitis: a review. JAMA surgery, 159(7), pp.818-825.

- Xu, Y., Wang, J., Wu, X., Jing, H., Zhang, S., Hu, Z., Rao, L., Chang, Q., Wang, L. and Zhang, Z., 2023. Gut microbiota alteration after cholecystectomy contributes to post-cholecystectomy diarrhea via bile acids stimulating colonic serotonin. Gut Microbes, 15(1), p.2168101.

- Hu, H., Shao, W., Liu, Q., Liu, N., Wang, Q., Xu, J., Zhang, X., Weng, Z., Lu, Q., Jiao, L. and Chen, C., 2022. Gut microbiota promotes cholesterol gallstone formation by modulating bile acid composition and biliary cholesterol secretion. Nature communications, 13(1), p.252.

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This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

AUG 12, 2025, 9:08 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Special Episode: Carl Zimmer & Airborne

In the first years of the COVID pandemic, a debate raged: was the virus transmitted via respiratory droplets, or was it airborne? For some, this distinction seemed overly technical, pedantic even. But for others, it represented decades of dismissal and missed opportunities – opportunities that had cost untold lives. In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, renowned science writer and journalist Carl Zimmer joins us to discuss his latest book Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe, which uncovers the long-forgotten story of an entire field of study – aerobiology – and the pioneering scientists who discovered life where there was thought to be none. Tune in for a fascinating conversation about why airborne transmission matters and the incredible work that some researchers are doing to breathe new life into its study.

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This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

JUL 30, 2025, 5:32 PM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Episode 183 SSRIs Part 2: Action

Last week, we took you on a journey of discovery and innovation, and this week we’re gonna tell you how the heck it all works. That means a deep dive into the nitty gritty of SSRIs, from what serotonin does (A LOT, as it turns out), to why blocking its uptake has the effects it does, from the different side effects of SSRIs, to how effective they really are. The discourse surrounding this class of drugs is complicated and contradictory, and this episode provides lots of answers and some terrible baseball metaphors to help you make sense of SSRIs.

History

- SSRI Biology

- Mechanism of action:

- Artigas, F., Nutt, D.J. and Shelton, R., 2002. Mechanism of action of antidepressants. Psychopharmacology bulletin, 36, pp.123-132.

- Sharp, T., 2012. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of antidepressant action. Behavioral Neurobiology of Depression and Its Treatment, pp.309-325.

- Willner, P., Scheel-Krüger, J. and Belzung, C., 2013. The neurobiology of depression and antidepressant action. Neuroscience & biobehavioral reviews, 37(10), pp.2331-2371.

- Duman, R.S. and Voleti, B., 2012. Signaling pathways underlying the pathophysiology and treatment of depression: novel mechanisms for rapid-acting agents. Trends in neurosciences, 35(1), pp.47-56.

- Davis, L.L., Yonkers, K.A., Trivedi, M., Kramwer, G.L. and Petty, F., 1999. The mechanism of action of SSRIs, a new hypothesis. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Past, Present and Future, pp.171-185.

- Depression and Anxiety as disorders:

- Goodwin, R.D., Dierker, L.C., Wu, M., Galea, S., Hoven, C.W. and Weinberger, A.H., 2022. Trends in US depression prevalence from 2015 to 2020: the widening treatment gap. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 63(5), pp.726-733.

- Malhi, G.s., Mann, J.J. 2018. Seminar. Depression. The Lancet, 392(10161) pp24-30.

- Roach, A., Sureshkumar, D.S., Elliot, K., Hidalgo-Padilla, L., van Loggerenberg, F., Hounsell, L., Jakaite, Z., Esnal, F., Donaghy, J., Bird, V.J. and Priebe, S., 2023. One-year recovery rates for young people with depression and/or anxiety not receiving treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ open, 13(7), p.e072093.

- Stein, M.B. and Sareen, J., 2015. Generalized anxiety disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(21), pp.2059-2068.

- Ruhé, H.G., Mason, N.S. and Schene, A.H., 2007. Mood is indirectly related to serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine levels in humans: a meta-analysis of monoamine depletion studies. Molecular psychiatry, 12(4), pp.331-359.

- Guideline papers:

- Eder, J., Dom, G., Gorwood, P., Kärkkäinen, H., Decraene, A., Kumpf, U., Beezhold, J., Samochowiec, J., Kurimay, T., Gaebel, W. and De Picker, L., 2023. Improving mental health care in depression: a call for action. European Psychiatry, 66(1), p.e65.

- American Psychiatric Association Workgroup on Major Depressive Disorder. 2010. Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder. [https://psychiatryonline.org/pb/assets/raw/sitewide/practice_guidelines/guidelines/mdd.pdf]

- American Psychological Association, 2019. Clinical practice guideline for the treatment of depression across three age cohorts [https://www.apa.org/depression-guideline/guideline.pdf]

- National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health 2011, updated 2020. Generalised anxiety disorder in adults: management in primary, secondary and community care. British Psychological Society.

- Efficacy and effectiveness studies:

- Cipriani, A., Furukawa, T.A., Salanti, G., Chaimani, A., Atkinson, L.Z., Ogawa, Y., Leucht, S., Ruhe, H.G., Turner, E.H., Higgins, J.P. and Egger, M., 2018. Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 21 antidepressant drugs for the acute treatment of adults with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. The Lancet, 391(10128), pp.1357-1366.

- Jakubovski, E., Johnson, J.A., Nasir, M., Müller‐Vahl, K. and Bloch, M.H., 2019. Systematic review and meta‐analysis: Dose–response curve of SSRIs and SNRIs in anxiety disorders. Depression and anxiety, 36(3), pp.198-212.

- Saelens, J., Gramser, A., Watzal, V., Zarate Jr, C.A., Lanzenberger, R. and Kraus, C., 2025. Relative effectiveness of antidepressant treatments in treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Neuropsychopharmacology, 50(6), pp.913-919.

- Warden, D., Rush, A.J., Trivedi, M.H., Fava, M. and Wisniewski, S.R., 2007. The STAR* D Project results: a comprehensive review of findings. Current psychiatry reports, 9(6), pp.449-459.

- Pigott, H.E., Kim, T., Xu, C., Kirsch, I. and Amsterdam, J., 2023. What are the treatment remission, response and extent of improvement rates after up to four trials of antidepressant therapies in real-world depressed patients? A reanalysis of the STAR* D study’s patient-level data with fidelity to the original research protocol. BMJ open, 13(7), p.e063095.

- McCormack, J. and Korownyk, C., 2018. Effectiveness of antidepressants. BMJ, 360.

- Cipriani, A., Furukawa, T.A., Salanti, G., Geddes, J.R., Higgins, J.P., Churchill, R., Watanabe, N., Nakagawa, A., Omori, I.M., McGuire, H. and Tansella, M., 2009. Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 12 new-generation antidepressants: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis. The lancet, 373(9665), pp.746-758.

- Perlis, R.H. and Fava, M., 2022. Is it time to try sequenced treatment alternatives to relieve depression (STAR* D) again?. JAMA psychiatry, 79(4), pp.281-282.

- Cuijpers, P., Karyotaki, E., Ciharova, M., Miguel, C., Noma, H. and Furukawa, T.A., 2021. The effects of psychotherapies for depression on response, remission, reliable change, and deterioration: A meta‐analysis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 144(3), pp.288-299.

- Gartlehner, G., Dobrescu, A., Chapman, A., Toromanova, A., Emprechtinger, R., Persad, E., Affengruber, L., Pieh, C., Klerings, I. and Wagner, G., 2023. Nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic treatments of adult patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis for a clinical guideline by the American College of Physicians. Annals of internal medicine, 176(2), pp.196-211.

- Placebo-responses:

- Krogsbøll, L.T., Hróbjartsson, A. and Gøtzsche, P.C., 2009. Spontaneous improvement in randomised clinical trials: meta-analysis of three-armed trials comparing no treatment, placebo and active intervention. BMC medical research methodology, 9, pp.1-10.

- Furukawa, T.A., Cipriani, A., Atkinson, L.Z., Leucht, S., Ogawa, Y., Takeshima, N., Hayasaka, Y., Chaimani, A. and Salanti, G., 2016. Placebo response rates in antidepressant trials: a systematic review of published and unpublished double-blind randomised controlled studies. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(11), pp.1059-1066.

- Rutherford, B.R. and Roose, S.P., 2013. A model of placebo response in antidepressant clinical trials. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(7), pp.723-733.

- Jones, B.D., Razza, L.B., Weissman, C.R., Karbi, J., Vine, T., Mulsant, L.S., Brunoni, A.R., Husain, M.I., Mulsant, B.H., Blumberger, D.M. and Daskalakis, Z.J., 2021. Magnitude of the placebo response across treatment modalities used for treatment-resistant depression in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA network open, 4(9), pp.e2125531-e2125531.

- Bschor, T., Nagel, L., Unger, J., Schwarzer, G. and Baethge, C., 2024. Differential outcomes of placebo treatment across 9 psychiatric disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA psychiatry, 81(8), pp.757-768.

- Meister, R., Jansen, A., Härter, M., Nestoriuc, Y. and Kriston, L., 2017. Placebo and nocebo reactions in randomized trials of pharmacological treatments for persistent depressive disorder. A meta-regression analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 215, pp.288-298.

- Cuijpers, P., Karyotaki, E., Weitz, E., Andersson, G., Hollon, S.D. and Van Straten, A., 2014. The effects of psychotherapies for major depression in adults on remission, recovery and improvement: a meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 159, pp.118-126.

- Children and adolescents:

- WHO Mental Health of Adolescents. Oct 2024. Factsheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health#:~:text=Emotional%2520disorders%26text=Depression%2520is%2520estimated%2520to%2520occur,affect%2520school%2520attendance%2520and%2520schoolwork

- Weersing, V.R., Goger, P., Schwartz, K.T., Baca, S.A., Angulo, F. and Kado-Walton, M., 2025. Evidence-Base Update of Psychosocial and Combination Treatments for Child and Adolescent Depression. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 54(1), pp.1-51.

- Cipriani, A., Zhou, X., Del Giovane, C., Hetrick, S.E., Qin, B., Whittington, C., Coghill, D., Zhang, Y., Hazell, P., Leucht, S. and Cuijpers, P., 2016. Comparative efficacy and tolerability of antidepressants for major depressive disorder in children and adolescents: a network meta-analysis. The Lancet, 388(10047), pp.881-890.

- Walkup, J.T., 2017. Antidepressant efficacy for depression in children and adolescents: industry-and NIMH-funded studies. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(5), pp.430-437.

- Strawn, J.R., Mills, J.A., Sauley, B.A. and Welge, J.A., 2018. The impact of antidepressant dose and class on treatment response in pediatric anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 57(4), pp.235-244.

- Wang, Z., Whiteside, S.P., Sim, L., Farah, W., Morrow, A.S., Alsawas, M., Barrionuevo, P., Tello, M., Asi, N., Beuschel, B. and Daraz, L., 2017. Comparative effectiveness and safety of cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy for childhood anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA pediatrics, 171(11), pp.1049-1056.

- Locher, C., Koechlin, H., Zion, S.R., Werner, C., Pine, D.S., Kirsch, I., Kessler, R.C. and Kossowsky, J., 2017. Efficacy and safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and placebo for common psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA psychiatry, 74(10), pp.1011-1020.

- Long term data:

- Wiles, N.J., Thomas, L., Turner, N., Garfield, K., Kounali, D., Campbell, J., Kessler, D., Kuyken, W., Lewis, G., Morrison, J. and Williams, C., 2016. Long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for treatment-resistant depression in primary care: follow-up of the CoBalT randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(2), pp.137-144.

- Hughes, S. and Cohen, D., 2009. A systematic review of long-term studies of drug treated and non-drug treated depression. Journal of affective disorders, 118(1-3), pp.9-18.

- Reid, S. and Barbui, C., 2010. Long term treatment of depression with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and newer antidepressants. Bmj, 340.

- Fournier, J.C., DeRubeis, R.J., Amsterdam, J., Shelton, R.C. and Hollon, S.D., 2015. Gains in employment status following antidepressant medication or cognitive therapy for depression. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 206(4), pp.332-338.

- Cuijpers, P., Hollon, S.D., Van Straten, A., Bockting, C., Berking, M. and Andersson, G., 2013. Does cognitive behaviour therapy have an enduring effect that is superior to keeping patients on continuation pharmacotherapy? A meta-analysis. BMJ open, 3(4), p.e002542.

- Back and forths regarding placebo effect:

- Naudet, F., Millet, B., Charlier, P., Reymann, J.M., Maria, A.S. and Falissard, B., 2013. Which placebo to cure depression? A thought-provoking network meta-analysis. BMC medicine, 11, pp.1-10.

- Cipriani, A. and Geddes, J.R., 2014. Placebo for depression: we need to improve the quality of scientific information but also reject too simplistic approaches or ideological nihilism. BMC medicine, 12, pp.1-3.

- Munkholm, K., Paludan-Müller, A.S. and Boesen, K., 2019. Considering the methodological limitations in the evidence base of antidepressants for depression: a reanalysis of a network meta-analysis. BMJ open, 9(6), p.e024886.

- N Fountoulakis, K., S McIntyre, R. and F Carvalho, A., 2015. From randomized controlled trials of antidepressant drugs to the meta-analytic synthesis of evidence: methodological aspects lead to discrepant findings. Current neuropharmacology, 13(5), pp.605-615.

- Untreated depression:

- Mekonen, T., Ford, S., Chan, G.C., Hides, L., Connor, J.P. and Leung, J., 2022. What is the short-term remission rate for people with untreated depression? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 296, pp.17-25.

- Whiteford, H.A., Harris, M.G., McKeon, G., Baxter, A., Pennell, C., Barendregt, J.J. and Wang, J., 2013. Estimating remission from untreated major depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological medicine, 43(8), pp.1569-1585.

- Roach, A., Sureshkumar, D.S., Elliot, K., Hidalgo-Padilla, L., van Loggerenberg, F., Hounsell, L., Jakaite, Z., Esnal, F., Donaghy, J., Bird, V.J. and Priebe, S., 2023. One-year recovery rates for young people with depression and/or anxiety not receiving treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ open, 13(7), p.e072093.

- Epidemiology:

- GBD 2019 Mental Disorders Collaborators, 2022. Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet Psychiatry, 9(2), pp.137-150.

- Vos, T., Lim, S.S., Abbafati, C., Abbas, K.M., Abbasi, M., Abbasifard, M., Abbasi-Kangevari, M., Abbastabar, H., Abd-Allah, F., Abdelalim, A. and Abdollahi, M., 2020. Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The lancet, 396(10258), pp.1204-1222.

- Mythbusting:

- Hall, R.C.W., Friedman, S.H., Sorrentino, R., Lapchenko, M., Marcus, A. and Ellis, R., 2019. The myth of school shooters and psychotropic medications. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 37(5), pp.540-558.

- Hall, R.C.W. and Friedman, S.H., 2013, November. Guns, schools, and mental illness: potential concerns for physicians and mental health professionals. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 88, No. 11, pp. 1272-1283). Elsevier.

- Whyte, I.M., Dawson, A.H. and Buckley, N.A., 2003. Relative toxicity of venlafaxine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in overdose compared to tricyclic antidepressants. Qjm, 96(5), pp.369-374.

- Li, K., Zhou, G., Xiao, Y., Gu, J., Chen, Q., Xie, S. and Wu, J., 2022. Risk of suicidal behaviors and antidepressant exposure among children and adolescents: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Frontiers in psychiatry, 13, p.880496.

- Boschloo, L., Hieronymus, F., Lisinski, A., Cuijpers, P. and Eriksson, E., 2023. The complex clinical response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in depression: a network perspective. Translational Psychiatry, 13(1), p.19.

- The controversial serotonin paper:

- Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R.E., Stockmann, T., Amendola, S., Hengartner, M.P. and Horowitz, M.A., 2023. The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Molecular psychiatry, 28(8), pp.3243-3256.

- And all of the responses to it:

- Jacobsen, J.P.R., 2023. Serotonin and depression—an alternative interpretation of the data in Moncrieff et al. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), pp.3158-3159.

- El-Mallakh, R.S., Doroodgar, M., Elsayed, O.H. and Kidambi, N., 2023. The serotonin theory of depression. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), pp.3157-3157.

- Almulla, A.F. and Maes, M., 2023. Although serotonin is not a major player in depression, its precursor is. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), pp.3155-3156.

- Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R.E., Stockmann, T., Amendola, S., Hengartner, M.P., Plöderl, M. and Horowitz, M.A., 2023. The serotonin hypothesis of depression: both long discarded and still supported?. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), pp.3160-3163.

- Jauhar, S., Arnone, D., Baldwin, D.S., Bloomfield, M., Browning, M., Cleare, A.J., Corlett, P., Deakin, J.W., Erritzoe, D., Fu, C. and Fusar-Poli, P., 2023. A leaky umbrella has little value: evidence clearly indicates the serotonin system is implicated in depression. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), pp.3149-3152.

- Bartova, L., Lanzenberger, R., Rujescu, D. and Kasper, S., 2023. Reply to:“The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence” published by Moncrieff J, Cooper RE, Stockmann T, Amendola S, Hengartner MP, Horowitz MA in Molecular Psychiatry (2022 Jul 20. doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0). Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), pp.3153-3154.

Biology

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This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

JUL 30, 2025, 5:28 PM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Episode 182 SSRIs Part 1: Origin

Since first hitting the shelves nearly 40 years ago, SSRIs have become one of the most commonly prescribed classes of antidepressants around the world, as well as one of the most discussed and misunderstood. This and next week, we tell the story of SSRIs in two parts. In Part 1, we explore the origins of these medications and their predecessors, a surprising journey that takes us back millions of years and across the animal kingdom, and one that proves that John Green was right – everything truly is tuberculosis. How did we get from tuberculosis to Prozac? Tune in to find out.

History

- SSRI History

- Harrington, Anne. Mind fixers: Psychiatry’s troubled search for the biology of mental illness. WW Norton & Company, 2019.

- Azmitia, Efrain C. “Serotonin and brain: evolution, neuroplasticity, and homeostasis.” International review of neurobiology 77 (2007): 31-56.

- Azmitia, E. C. “Evolution of serotonin: Sunlight to suicide, u: Muller, CP, Jackobs, BL (Ur.), Handbook of the Behavioral Neurobiology of Serotonin.” (2010): 3-22.

- Bacqué-Cazenave, Julien, et al. “Serotonin in animal cognition and behavior.” International journal of molecular sciences 21.5 (2020): 1649.

- Hillhouse, Todd M., and Joseph H. Porter. “A brief history of the development of antidepressant drugs: from monoamines to glutamate.” Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology 23.1 (2015): 1.

- Pereira, Vitor Silva, and Vinícius Antonio Hiroaki-Sato. “A brief history of antidepressant drug development: from tricyclics to beyond ketamine.” Acta neuropsychiatrica 30.6 (2018): 307-322.

- Perez-Caballero, Laura, et al. “Fluoxetine: a case history of its discovery and preclinical development.” Expert opinion on drug discovery 9.5 (2014): 567-578.

- Ramachandraih, Chaitra T., et al. “Antidepressants: from MAOIs to SSRIs and more.” Indian journal of psychiatry 53.2 (2011): 180-182.

- Sjoerdsma, Albert, and Michael G. Palfreyman. “History of serotonin and serotonin disorders.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1990).

- Turlejski, Krzysztof. “Evolutionary ancient roles of serotonin: long-lasting regulation of activity and development.” Acta neurobiologiae experimentalis 56.2 (1996): 619-636.

- Twarog, Betty M. “Serotonin: History of a discovery.” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Comparative Pharmacology 91.1 (1988): 21-24.

- Whitaker-Azmitia, Patricia Mack. “The discovery of serotonin and its role in neuroscience.” Neuropsychopharmacology 21.1 (1999): 2-8.

- Yabut, Julian M., et al. “Emerging roles for serotonin in regulating metabolism: new implications for an ancient molecule.” Endocrine reviews 40.4 (2019): 1092-1107.

Biology

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission which helps us keep things running. Thanks!

This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

JUL 15, 2025, 3:00 AM EDT | PODCAST | EPISODE PAGE

Special Episode: Wendy Chin-Tanner & King of the Armadillos

We’ve got a very special episode of the TPWKY book club this week! We’re featuring our very first fiction book: King of the Armadillos by Wendy Chin-Tanner. This novel tells the story of a young man named Victor, who is sent from his home in New York City to a federal treatment facility in Carville, Louisiana after a diagnosis of Hansen’s disease (then known as leprosy). After being ripped away from his family and the life he knew, Victor struggles to navigate his new situation, facing racism, stigma, and loneliness. Ultimately, he finds support in the lively community of Carville. Wendy joins us to discuss her creative process for this beautifully-written book, and how her father’s life provided the basis for Victor’s story. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation about a long-forgotten piece of public health history and the powerful meaning that diseases can hold.

This article was downloaded on Sep 17, 2025 at 8:51 AM EDT.

Table of Contents

This Podcast Will Kill You: 2025 Sep 16

All articles

Special Episode: Mary Roach & Replaceable You: 2025 Sep 16

Episode 187 Hypothermia Part 2: How it helps: 2025 Sep 9

Episode 186 Hypothermia Part 1: How it hurts: 2025 Sep 2

Special Episode: Lina Zeldovich & The Living Medicine: 2025 Aug 28

Episode 185 The Great Smog of London: “Thick, drab, yellow, disgusting”: 2025 Aug 22

Episode 184 The Gallbladder: Humor us: 2025 Aug 12

Special Episode: Carl Zimmer & Airborne: 2025 Aug 12

Episode 183 SSRIs Part 2: Action: 2025 Jul 30

Episode 182 SSRIs Part 1: Origin: 2025 Jul 30

Special Episode: Wendy Chin-Tanner & King of the Armadillos: 2025 Jul 15